Announcements with Music Programming - Samples

There are many ways to combine announcements and music programming. Some approaches are brute force while some are more modular and reusable. Below is our recommended method.

These samples depict a modular approach to creating automation Scripts that are reusable and will allow you to quickly mix and match your music tracks library with a library of announcements. Samples 1 shows how to build a library of announcement Sound Lists. For example, create announcement Scripts targeted for a time of day (morning, afternoon or evening, pre-show, intermission and post-show ), or for audiences (kids, adults, theater patrons or concert patrons, etc.) Samples 2 shows how to build a library of music selections. For example, build Sound List for each album or collection of tracks. Samples 3 shows how to build a master programming Sound List that will combine any music Sound List with any announcements Sound List. Then the rest of the samples show various ways to use these modules to achieve different automation scenarios.

Sample 1. Create an Announcement Sound List

For modular reuse of announcements create a separate Sound List for each related set of announcements. For example, to create one for pre-show announcements, follow these steps:

Create a new Sound List. Name it "Pre-Show Announcements".
Drag and drop the announcement audio files into the Sound List.
Now open the Automator window and create a Script to play all announcements by clicking menu item Announcements -- New Script Interval Announcements. You can select all sound items or a subset of sound items.
Name the Script "Pre-Show Announcements" then click OK.
Save the Sound List.

Explanation: When the "Pre-Show Announcements" Script is run, each announcement is pushed onto an announcement stack rather than being played immediately. Since these are set as " Interval Announcements", they will be played in turn, at regular intervals.

Script contents

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Script: 1. Pre-Show Announcements
Play steps are Interval Announcements: True.

Steps:
 1. Play (2. Producers opens June 1)
 2. Play (1. Benefit Dinner)
 3. Play (4. Tickets ordering)
 4. Play (2. Producers opens June 1)
 5. Play (3. Show starts in 5 minutes)


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Listing 1. Script 1. Pre-Show Announcements

Sample 2. Create a Music Selections Sound List

For modular reuse of Music Selections create a separate Sound List for each related set of music (ex. an album or collection of tracks). For example, to create a Sound List for the Beatles-One album, follow these steps:

Create a new Sound List. Name it "Beatles-One".
Drag and drop the album track audio files into the Sound List. (assumes you have already ripped the tracks to your hard drive.)
Now open the Automator window and create a new Script to play all tracks by clicking Announcements -- Music Selections.
Check the Shuffle steps when run checkbox if you want a random shuffle effect.
Name the Script "Play Selections: Beatles-One". Add a description if desired, then click OK.
Save the Sound List.

Explanation: When run, each music track will play sequentially. If shuffle is requested, the play order will be randomly shuffled each time the Script is run.

Script contents


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Script: 2.  Play Selections: Beatles-One
DeScription: Beatles-One - Music Album, 27 songs, total playtime 76 minutes
Shuffle steps when run: True.

Steps:
1. Play (1. Love Me Do)
2. Play (2. From Me to You)
3. Play (3. She Loves You)
4. Play (4. I Want to Hold Your Hand)
:
[some Play steps snipped for brevity ]
:
25. Play (25. Come Together)
26. Play (26. Let It Be)
27. Play (27. The Long and Winding Road)


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Listing 2. Script 2.  Play Selections: Beatles-One

Sample 3. Create a Master Programming Script

You should understand the concepts in samples #1 and #2 above to understand this sample. Once you have an announcements Sound List and a music selections Sound List, you can quickly combine them for master programming. Follow these steps:

Create a new Sound List. We'll name it "Pre-Show Programming".
Import the "Beatles-One" Sound List. ( sample 2)
Import the "Pre-Show Announcements" Sound List.( sample 1)
Now open the Automator window and create a new Script. We'll name it "Master Pre-Show Program".
Add two Run Script steps. One for the "Pre-Show Announcements" Script (sample 1) and one for the "Play Selections: Beatles-One". Script (sample 2) .
Important! Move the step to Run Script "Pre-Show Announcements" step to be FIRST step in the Script. (It must pre-load before the music programming script starts to execute.)
Save the "Master Pre-Show Programming" Sound List.

Explanation: The "Master Pre-Show Program" Script runs the "Pre-Show Announcements" Script which adds all the announcements to an announcement stack. Then it runs the "Play Selections: Beatles-One" Script which starts the music playing. This approach allows you to quickly change the music being played or the announcements. The sample shows a simple case of combining one set of music selections with one set of announcements. But you can import multiple sound lists of music and multiple sound lists of announcements as desired.

Note that the step to run the announcements Script must come before you run the music selections Script. Otherwise the announcements would not be added to the programming until after the music Script finishes playing.

Script contents

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Script: 1. Master Pre-Show Program

Steps:
1. Run Script (3. Pre-Show Announcements)
2. Run Script (2. Play Selections: Beatles-One)

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Listing 3. Script 1. Master Pre-Show Program

Sample 4. Combine Interval Announcements with Music

Edit the "Pre-Show Announcements" Script and and make sure you have checked the Interval Announcements checkbox.
Set the Interval Time amount (the number of minutes and seconds you want between each announcement).
Edit the "Master Pre-Show Program" Script and add a 'Stop Script' step as the last step in the script.

Explanation: The "Master Pre-Show Program" Script runs the "Pre-Show Announcements" Script which adds all the announcements to an announcement stack. Then it runs the "Play Selections: Beatles-One" Script which starts the music playing. Announcements will break-in every 5 minutes, suspending the current playing music track. Note that the last announcement "Show starts in 5 minutes" needs to play at a specific time. So you should start the "Pre-Show Program" Script 30 minutes prior to the start of the show. Optionally, you could schedule the Script to start 30 minutes prior to show time and let the Scheduler worry about when to start it. The 'Stop Script' step added to the "Master Pre-Show Program" Script forces a stop. Otherwise, announcements would continue to play at intervals until you manually stop the script.

Sample 5. Combine Insert Announcements with Music

Edit the "Pre-Show Announcements" Script and and make sure you have checked the Insert Announcements checkbox.

Explanation: The "Master Pre-Show Program" Script runs the "Pre-Show Announcements" Script which adds all the announcements to an announcement stack. Then it runs the "Play Selections: Beatles-One" Script which starts the music playing. Announcements will be inserted after each music track finishes playing. After the last announcement plays, announcement selection cycles back to the first announcement. Thus the number of announcements does not need to match the number of music tracks.

Note that you cannot use Insert Announcements when a specific announcement needs to fire at a set time (ex. "Show starts in 5 minutes").

Sample 6. Combine Scheduled Announcements with Music

It is assumed that you understand the concepts in samples #1, 2 and 3 above. Some scripts created in those samples are referenced in this sample.

For this sample, assume we want to play the Beatles-One music and have the announcements interrupt the music at specific times of day (wall clock time). In this example, the scheduled times are after 8:00 PM. Follow these steps using the Sound Lists created in samples 1, 2 and 3 above:

When creating the "Pre-Show Announcements" Sound List, create the announcements Script by clicking menu item Announcements -- New Script Scheduled Announcements.
The Standard Announcements checkbox will be checked automatically.
Now edit the "Master Pre-Show Program" Script and Enable its Schedule Time. Set the Schedule Time to any time before 8:00 PM.

Explanation: Each Play step that is created has its Schedule enabled. The first step is scheduled at the Schedule Time specified in the Options dialog to the Automation tab.. Subsequent steps are scheduled at intervals equal to the Interval Time specified in the Options dialog to the Automation tab. (5 minutes apart in this example). You can now edit the individual Script steps to adjust the schedule times for desired times.

To run this programming, you have to start the Scheduler as some time prior to the scheduled time for the "Master Pre-Show Program" Script (8:00 PM). When the "Master Pre-Show Program" Script starts, it will run the "Pre-Show Announcements" Script and schedule all the announcements. Then it will start the music programming.

Note: Scheduled Scripts and steps are ONLY processed by the Scheduler. They are ignored when the Script is run manually (by clicking the Run button). Also, these announcements will only play once.

Script contents

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Script: 1. Pre-Show Announcements
Play steps are Standard Announcements: True.

Steps:
1. Play (1. Benefit Dinner) , Sched: 8:00 PM to (=).
2. Play (2. Producers opens June 1) , Sched: 8:05 PM to (=).
3. Play (3. Tickets ordering) , Sched: 8:10 PM to (=).
4. Play (4. Producers opens June 1 ) , Sched: 8:15 PM to (=).
5. Play (5. Show starts in 5 minutes) , Sched: 8:20 PM to (=).

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Listing 4. Script 1. Pre-Show Announcements

Sample 7. Combine Offset Timed Announcements with Music

It is assumed that you understand the concepts in samples #1, 2 and 3 above. Some scripts created in those samples are referenced in this sample.

For this sample, assume we want to play the Beatles-One music and have the announcements interrupt the music at irregular Offset times. The Offset is an amount of time to expire after the Script starts to run. If you want announcements to play at regular intervals (ex. 5 minutes apart), it is much easier to use Interval Announcements. Follow these steps using the Sound Lists created in samples 1, 2 and 3 above:

When creating the "Pre-Show Announcements" Sound List, create the announcements Script by clicking menu item Announcements -- New Script Offset Timed Announcements.
The Standard Announcements checkbox will be checked automatically.
Now edit the "Pre-Show Announcements" Script and set the individual offset times on each step.

Explanation: Each Play step that is created has its Offset Time enabled. The Offsets are initially set in increments of the Interval Time specified in the Options dialog to the Automation tab. We reset the Offsets to irregular times in this example. Note that step 5 "Show starts in 5 minutes" has an Offset of 25 minutes. So the "Master Pre-Show Program" Script should be started 30 minutes before the show for this step to fire at the right time. Also, these announcements will only play once.

Script contents

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Script: 1. Standard Announcements: Pre-Show Announcements
Play steps are Standard Announcements: True.

Steps:
1. Play (1. Benefit Dinner) , Offset: 02:00.
2. Play (2. Producers opens June 1) , Offset: 5:00
3. Play (3. Tickets ordering) , Offset: 9:00
4. Play (4. Producers opens June 1 ) , Offset: 20:00
5. Play (5. Show starts in 5 minutes) , Offset: 25:00

Listing 5. Script 1. Standard Announcements: Pre-Show Announcements

Figure 1. Script Editor